


Three words

by dancey94



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Domestic, Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Post-Episode: s03e13 The Wrath of the Lamb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2015-10-26
Packaged: 2018-04-28 06:23:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5081044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancey94/pseuds/dancey94
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The night Will says <i>the words</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Three words

**Author's Note:**

  * For [abigail_frank](https://archiveofourown.org/users/abigail_frank/gifts).



Will sits on the bed and takes off his watch. He puts it on the bedside table and waits.  

Hannibal walks into the room a minute after and stands in front of a huge wardrobe. He starts undoing the buttons in his shirt and hangs it in the wardrobe.

Will is offered a familiar yet view of the psychiatrist’s back and smiles faintly. It will never come to a moment when he wouldn’t be amazed by the map made of beauty moles and the round branding in the sole centre of Hannibal’s back. It’s Graham’s weakness and he often finds himself stroking the delicate skin there in a soothing gesture. Mason may have marked Hannibal but he’s Will’s and only Will’s, forever, and the mark between them is much more significant, even if unnoticeable at the first sight.

Hannibal pushes down his trousers and takes out a pair of pyjama pants they bought together some time ago. He changes and turns to Will, who is still observing every smallest movement of his lover. Lecter’s eyes narrow in a charming smile and the tension between them is palpable.

Hannibal steps closer to Will and places his hands on the man’s shoulders. Will turns his head to kiss one palm but then closes his eyes.

“We don’t have to have sex, you know.” Graham states.

“You don’t want to?” Lecter asks, slightly alarmed.

“Do you?” The question throws Hannibal off balance and he sits by Will on the bed. “The first time you cried and I didn’t say anything. I thought it was still pain after being shot. But nothing really has changed for, like what, a few months now? I love the gentle treatment and the soft touches and whispers. But sometimes I wonder if you wouldn’t rather spend this time reading or… well, doing anything else.”

Hannibal frowns at the words. How can this man, the love of his life, believe he doesn’t satisfy Lecter? How can-

“I promised myself I wouldn’t broach this but when you were with Alana, when you were with Bedelia, god, with anyone ever, was it the same? Because I may be overreacting so I just want to know if I am.”

“It wasn’t the same. How can you presume it could be?”

“You… After… You look the same as I did when I slept with Margot. More miserable than truly sated. So I’m wondering…”

“Will…” Hannibal cups the man’s face and can’t stop the tears from gathering in his eyes. “I love you. When you decided to give yourself to me for the first time, I almost couldn’t handle it. It was too much. I didn’t think it would come to that.”

“Me neither.”

“Do you regret this is how we ended up?” Hannibal asks, concerned.

“No.”

Hannibal strokes Will’s cheeks and leans to place a gentle kiss on one, then the other. Graham closes his eyes and waits for the show.

He was sceptical at the beginning but with time, it was often him who initiated the whole thing. Tonight he waits. He wants to be laid down on the bed, undressed, manoeuvred. He wants to be deprived of control, wants to be taken. And Hannibal cannot say no to that.

He kisses Will on the lips, fully pressing his plump flesh to the other man. Lecter can’t help but remember how it felt, embracing Will on the cliff, with the immediate result of them falling off of it. He can’t help but compare every following touch and kiss with the first one. He is grateful for each but the taste of the very first one will be forever imprinted on his tongue and skin. The moment when Will didn’t hesitate but leant in and granted the permission to violate his boundaries. Hannibal will never forget that.

He tries to keep a record of Will’s moans and face expressions when they are intimate and he stores it in one of the rooms in his memory palace. It’s not very different from any other conversation they have. Hannibal is just so taken with Will, he could stare at him forever.

There is one thing that’s been bothering Will for some time. Of course Hannibal loves him. Of course Will knew that for a long time. And of course he loves Hannibal. It just so happened that he never said the words. Lecter didn’t force him to, he never asked, and Will assumed it was so obvious he didn’t need to say it. Now he considers spilling it.

Will grabs Lecter’s hands and kisses the palms, which makes the man smile warmly. This is the prelude to the night before them. This is a moment when Graham’s heart is pounding loudly, terrified of what he’s about to do. And he shouldn’t be. When he’s with Hannibal words come so easy to him and he knows what he wants to say, it’s just the fear of shattering the perfect dream that scares him. Maybe when he says the words, they’ll lose their meaning. Maybe it’s the mute expression on his face that matters more.

Graham is torn between jumping on the tempting body before him and turning away, asking for a peaceful night, in a silent embrace. They will have many more nights when they can explore each other’s bodies. Many nights still to finally confess his feelings.

Hannibal laughs softly and pulls away from the man. He stands up and reaches for a brown sweater lying in the wardrobe.

“Your mind is elsewhere tonight.” Lecter observes as he puts on the sweater.

“No. It never leaves you. It just touches different ends and I may look distracted because it’s still new to me.”

“Being focused solely on one person?”

“Navigating between the things I desire. There’s so many of them. And they’re all connected to you.”

“I’m eager to give you all of them.” Hannibal says and stands in front of Will, who is still sitting on the bed and looking up now to meet the man’s eyes.

“Do we have so much time?”

“We have all the time in the world. Just tell me.”

Tell him what? What should he say? Will extends his hands and places them on the hips before him. He leans forward and supports his head on Hannibal’s belly covered with a warm fluffy fabric of his sweater.

“I love you.” Will whispers finally.

It’s a second after that he feels something drip on his hair. A teardrop. And another. Will wants to laugh. He’s a creature that somehow has the power to overwhelm the cold blooded killer standing in front of him.

Lecter’s knees feel weak but he embraces Will and keeps standing. So this is the evening Will decided to talk. This is the night Hannibal has to now file under ‘remember forever’ in his palace.

Hannibal kisses the man’s hair and strokes it affectionately. Finally, he releases Will from his arms and sits by his lover.

This is the night when they talk and laugh and drink. Hannibal brings them even food to bed and a bottle of wine from the cellar. He reads Will a few poems he wrote when he was a student in France. This is the night when the dawn appears a minute after they go to sleep – joyful and more satisfied than any other night.


End file.
